February 6, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Around 300,000 people in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa remain without power after a “technological accident” an electricity substation on Saturday, according to the region's military administration.

“The repair works at one of the substations are ongoing, the situation remains complicated," it said Monday.

Nearly 500,000 people were cut off following a "serious accident" on Saturday said Maksym Marchenko, head of Odesa region military administration. 

“All services and facilities are involved. The damages are complex and very severe, so it is too early to give any qualitative forecasts on the completion of repairs,” said Marchenko.

Russia has its own programs to produce drones, the Kremlin said Monday, after the Wall Street Journal reported details of an alleged joint project with Iran.

According to officials quoted by the Journal, Moscow and Tehran have agreed to build a factory in Russia that could make at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones for use in the war in Ukraine. The two countries are aiming to build a faster drone that could pose new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses, according to the Journal.

CNN is not able to independently verify those claims. 

“Russia has a number of its own programs to create unmanned aerial vehicles for a variety of purposes,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a regular call with reporters.

In the decree, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to establish a commission to oversee the development of drones, the necessary infrastructure and the training of required personnel.

More on drones: Russia's use of drones has played a significant role in the conflict since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Iranian government has acknowledged that it had sent a limited number of drones to Russia in the months before the start of its invasion of Ukraine.

Last November, the UK-based investigative organization Conflict Armament Research examined several drones that had been downed in Ukraine and found that 82% of their components were manufactured by companies based in the US. 

The uncertainty over Oleksii Reznikov’s tenure as Ukrainian Defense Minister comes against the backdrop of corruption investigations involving the ministry.

In total, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau is evaluating procurement contracts totaling more than 13 billion Ukrainian hryvnia ($347 million).

The current uproar over Defense Ministry procurement began last month when Ukrainian media outlet “zn.ua" reported that the Defense Ministry was buying food at two to three times the retail price.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau said it was aware of “possible abuses," but Reznikov said that there was “no factual component to the claims.”

Whoever leaked the information to the media was trying “to undermine confidence in the Ministry of Defense at a highly sensitive time," he added. 

On January 24, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Viacheslav Shapovalov resigned amid allegations linked to food procurement, but other accusations have also surfaced.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said last week that it had charged the Ministry of Defense’s former head for procurement with embezzlement over the purchase of thousands of substandard protective vests. 

And last week Ukraine’s national police accused the heads of two companies working with the Defense Ministry of misappropriating nearly 120 million Ukrainian hryvnia ($3.23 million) from food contracts signed with the government. 

For his part, Reznikov has spoken extensively about problems with the procurement process at the ministry and revealed that he had requested an audit soon after he took up his post in November 2021.

“The audit showed that the procurement and control systems need changes,” he said. Since then, the ministry has stepped up efforts to improve transparency, added Reznikov.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov is not expected to be replaced this week, according to the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s parliamentary faction.

David Arakhamia appears to be tempering remarks he made on Sunday, when he announced that Reznikov would be moved to the Ministry of Strategic Industries, and that the current head of defense intelligence, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, would head up the Ministry of Defense.

“No personnel changes in the defense are expected this week,” Arakhamia said in a Telegram post Monday.

On Sunday, Reznikov told Ukrainian news outlet Fakty ICTV that the idea that he was being moved between ministries was “news to me,” but that he served at the pleasure of the president.

Rumors about Reznikov’s position have amplified in recent weeks, as probes into procurement decisions at the defense ministry continue.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was asked to comment on rumors that he could be replaced.

"No official stays in office forever. Not a single one. So one should be ready at any time for this stage to end," Reznikov told reporters in Kyiv on Sunday.

"The decision whether I will be or won't be the Minister of Defense is made by one person - the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky," Reznikov said.

"Therefore, I will make certain decisions only upon the decision of the President of Ukraine. And then, again, I will do what the President of Ukraine offers me, I will do everything for our victory." he added.

The formal process to replace Ukraine's defense minister requires that Zelensky first ask parliament to remove the minister. Ukrainian lawmakers then hold a vote on the proposal. Afterwards Zelensky will then propose a new defense minister which the lawmakers also need to vote to approve. This could happen in the coming days.

On Wednesday last week, officials from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said they had charged the Ministry of Defense’s former head for procurement with embezzlement over the purchase of thousands of substandard protective vests.

The official spent the equivalent of $2.7 million on almost 3,000 "bulletproof vests" for the Ukrainian armed forces which were later found to be unable to “properly protect Ukrainian soldiers.”

The SBU said that the official was charged with “misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office,” obstruction of the armed forces, and “committing a criminal offense by a group of persons.”

The SBU said that the individual faced five to eight years in prison and had recalled the sub-standard body armor.

“In addition, the SBU is conducting investigative actions against other officials in the security and defense sector who may be involved in illegal activities that harm state security. This is a set of measures aimed at strengthening the defense capabilities of our state," the SBU said at the time.

The charges come after Zelensky fired a slew of senior Ukrainian officials since late January amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies, in the biggest shakeup of his government since Russia’s invasion began.

CNN's Yulia Kesaieva, Mick Krever and Jack Guy contributed reporting.

Russian forces allegedly seized and burned Ukrainian books in public and school libraries in the Luhansk region, the Ukrainian National Resistance Centre said.  

Luhansk was one of four regions annexed last autumn by Russia, in a process that is illegal under international law. The region is run by Russian-backed separatists who have claimed it as the "Luhansk People's Republic."

In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the National Resistance Center, which is run by Ukraine's Special Forces, said books have been "seized from the collections of public and school libraries" in the eastern Ukrainian region. 

The Education Ministry of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic sent a 365-item list to the heads of city and district administrations and educational organizations. They were advised to remove the listed books from their libraries, the statement added.  

Ukrainian officials have spoken out about the pressure placed on educators in occupied areas to adapt school programs to align with pro-Russian rhetoric. 

Nina, a 48-year-old school principal, recounted to CNN last May how Russian forces arrived at her school in northeastern Ukraine and forced her to hand over all history textbooks and quizzed her on the school's curriculum. She did not give her last name.

CNN's Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Oleksandra Ochman contributed to this report.

Ukrainian troops will begin training with German-made Leopard tanks from Monday, according to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv, Reznikov also warned of an upcoming Russian offensive to coincide with the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion.

On Thursday, US officials said the US was expected to announce a new Ukraine security package worth approximately $2.2 billion that will include longer-range missiles in a first for the country.

But these will not reach the distance Ukraine is asking for out of fear longer-ranging weapons — like the sought after ATACMS missile —  will be used to hit targets in Russia.

“I want to emphasize that we promise our partners not to use long-range systems to hit targets on Russian territory, only on the Ukrainian territory which Russians occupied,” Reznikov said.

Gone are the acres of jubilant crowds that filled Freedom Square with blue and yellow Ukrainian flags that swayed like heads of wheat when the Russians were driven out. Now the crack-crunch of Russian artillery eating into the city echoes around the plaza.

The harvest of victory in the fall has been a bitter winter.

In the previous 48 hours, Kherson had endured more than 130 strikes by rockets, artillery, mortars and even direct tank fire across the Dnieper River from Russian forces. Four people were killed in the same period, another dozen or more wounded.

Several warehouses were also set ablaze. One of them stored fireworks — bizarre goods to store amid shelling. But also a symbol of hope, in the face of bloody experience, that there may be something more to celebrate, sometime.

The regional capital was captured last March in the early stages of Russia’s invasion. Many of its 290,000 citizens left then. More appear to have fled since it was liberated in November. Ukraine’s administration implored them to leave since then to escape the Russian shelling.

Young mothers, pensioners and a handful of drunks scuttle and stagger as fast as they can across Freedom Square to catch buses. Time above ground, just a few hundreds meters from the river, is time spent in mortal danger — especially here.

Read the full analysis here.

Colorado State University has apologized to Utah State’s Ukrainian junior guard after spectators chanted "Russia" toward him at a men’s basketball game in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Saturday night.

The chant could be heard when Max Shulga, who is from Kyiv, went to the free throw line late in the game.

Read more here.